AN: well, we're now getting into the final few chapters of the story. I thank everyone here for reviewing on past chapters and thank you in advance for reviewing this one. On a lighter note, this will be the first multi-chapter story that I've ever completed! How will our heroes prevail against Eggman? Let's find out!
(New Mobotropilis- 2 days earlier…)
Nicole's dress swayed in the wind behind her. Her short black hair blew in the breeze also. This was one of her favorite spots: on top of the palace, where she had a magnificent view of the entire city around her. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the entire area buzzed with the noises of people going about their daily business. Nicole would've been enjoying it too if it weren't for one thing:
The Phantom Signal.
At least, that's what she named it. It was odd. The signal would appear for only a few minutes at a time in cyber space, make an unauthorized wire transfer from the bank to an untraceable account, then disappear again. From the fact that the thief hadn't been caught yet told her one thing, he or she was a professional. It couldn't be rouge, for she was off fighting Eggman, and it couldn't be Knack, for he was still serving a short jail time.
"When I find you…" She said to the air, somewhat hoping that he or she would hear her. "… I'm going to make sure you suffer in some way." That's when she felt it, the same presence that had been bugging her for the past 3 days. The Phantom Signal was back in the system! Wasting no time, she immediately turned into her electronic self and dissolved into the city's mainframe. She opened her eyes and found herself back in her home, a massive black space filled with glowing, constantly changing computer code. And that's when she saw it, making its own computer code out of thin air in order to send a command. It had a feline shape she now realized, for she had never been able to get close enough to it to get a good look. She also saw it covered in cyan colored fur.
"Hey, you!" she called. It spun around a look of terror evident on its face. That's when she discovered that it was a male. He had massive chocolate brown eyes that radiated: Fuck, I'm caught.
"Damn it!" he shouted and darted off. It was running way too fast for Nicole to give chase. The only people she knew of that could run that fast were Sonic and his friends. She closed her eyes and teleported herself across the space and directly in the path of the cyan colored cat.
"You're not getting away this time!" she shouted and ordered the computer code to create a firewall around him. He began to chuckle.
"You really think this'll hold me?" He asked before computer code began to swirl around him. He was going to disappear again!
"Not this time!" Nicole yelled angrily and lunged at him. She just barely grabbed hold of his tail just as they both dissolved.
When Nicole opened her eyes again, she found herself in the middle of New Mobotropilis. She felt the rope- like tail in her hand. Does that mean?
"H-how? I thought you were only a cyber- presence!" she exclaimed. How could he have a solid body? She though that she was the only solid AI on the planet!
"Nope. I'm just as real as you, honey." He said with a laugh and began to run away again.
"Damn it!" Nicole yelled. How could she have let go? She had him right there! She teleported in front of him again. He skidded to a halt before turning in the other direction. Nicole repeated the process. But he countered with an unexpected move. With a snap of his fingers an extreme gear board materialized in thin air. He hopped on and flew straight up.
"Not today, Nicole!" he called. Nicole smirked and teleported one last time. She hovered in mid- air. The cat tried to stop himself and lost his balance. He fell backward off the board and plummeted down back to the ground some fifty feet below. Right before he hit the ground though, he teleported himself into a standing position. He was about to run again when Nicole teleported herself in his path. He took a fighting stance and his body burst into flame.
"I'm warning you, another step and you'll get cooked!" he threatened. Nicole took a step and he hurled a massive fireball. The particles that made up Nicole's head scattered and the fireball passed harmlessly through. The particles reformed and she continued walking. Anti- Wyatt was becoming more scarred by the second as the lynx drew closer. In desperation he threw another—with the same effect. Nicole stopped within three feet of him.
"Well, come on, you said I was going to get cooked. And at this range I wouldn't be able to dodge fast enough. So come on, do it." She taunted. Anti-Wyatt's glare grew larger and his fist clenched tighter. Just when Nicole thought he was about to attack, the flames died and his arms when slack. He sighed and stared down at his feet. Nicole's smirk widened and she crossed her arms.
"You've got nowhere to run, and you can't hide from me, so you might as well spill it. Who created you?" she asked.
"Who do you think?" he replied.
"Eggman?"
"Bingo."
"How were you created?"
"With a DNA sample, a Sol emerald, and a computer." He responded glumly.
"Who's DNA?"
"Some cat from a different universe or something."
"Blaze?" Nicole asked. Since when would Blaze give some of her DNA?
"No, some other cat. He's good friends with Blaze though." Anti- Wyatt corrected.
"I see, now, why are you stealing money?"
"What else am I supposed to do?"
"Oh gee I don't know, how about helping me with my job instead of making it harder?" Nicole said with a hint of malice. "Jesus, do you know how hard it has been for me to track you ass down when I could've been off having fun or something?" she shouted.
"Well, to be fair, the guy that they took the DNA sample from was a dumbass. And since I'm almost an exact clone of him, I'm bound to be just as stupid!" A-Wyatt shot back in defense
"You don't need to tell me twice."
"Hey!"
"Argh, whatever, come with me." Nicole said before grabbing his wrist, but he wouldn't budge. "Come on."
"No."
"WHY?"
"Because you're going to erase me!" A-Wyatt said. "That what you're going to do right? Take me to the cops, get the money back, and then erase me line by line!" Nicole could see that the cat was obviously scarred out of his wits. She thought about it for a second. She could just erase him, but that would be too easy. He's an AI like her, so he would be able to help her out with her job. Not to mention that he's kinda cute, Nicole thought secretly. But other than that, it would be counter- productive to erase him over robbery.
"No, I'm not. In fact, I think I have a better solution." She said finally. "But first, we have to go to Sally."
(Two hours later)
A-Wyatt was on the verge of taking a little cat nap when he heard the large oak doors leading into Queen Sally's office creak open. He looked up and saw Nicole walk out.
"We're not going to erase you. Instead, you're going to be my assistant. We've arranged a living space paid for by the government that you may use." She said, tossing him a key. "But be warned, we will have you under constant surveillance, and if you try anything, we WILL erase you, got it?"
"Crystal."
"Oh yes, we also took back all of the money you stole, but the pantry in your apartment should be stocked with the necessities. Anything else you will have to pay for with your own paychecks."
"Okay." A-Wyatt responded. He got up from the chair and headed for a balcony. With a snap of his fingers, his Sol-Gear board appeared under his arm. Nicole followed him.
"Be back at the palace at 6:00 tomorrow." She told him.
"Yes mother." He replied and mounted his board. Nicole looked at him strangely.
"Why do you use that when we can just teleport?"
"It's more fun."
"How so?"
"Let me show you. Do you have an apartment?"
"Yes, I do. Why- EIIP!" Nicole let out a small yelp of surprise as she was scooped of the ground bridal style. She involuntarily put her arms around A-Wyatt's neck and clung to him. When she realized what was going on, she glared holes through him, but he ignored her.
"Where to?" he asked. Nicole sighed in defeat.
"1487, Fitzgerald Ave." She replied. The sudden rush of acceleration caught her off guard. They took off into the moonlit night with the bustling city directly below them. They soared over the massive skyscrapers heading for the west side of town. Nicole gazed at the surrounding landscape with a sense of awe. She had seen the city at night, but never from this angle. The wind stung her face a little, but she didn't care. Finally, she felt her stomach drop slightly as the board descended back into the concrete canyons. It stopped and she felt Anti-Wyatt hop of the board and set her down. They stood on the front steps leading to her apartment.
"Say it." A-Wyatt urged.
"Fine, you win, that was… definitely more fun." She said, her cheeks turning slightly red. He laughed and flew off again.
(The next day)
"Good enough." A-Wyatt sighed as he yanked a box of oat cereal off the shelf. He slammed the door shut and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard. The apartment he had been given wasn't all that bad. It had a small kitchen when you walked in with all the necessary appliances. It was separated from the tiny living room by a small bar. Off the living room was a hallway that had three doors: A bathroom, closet, and his bedroom. The bathroom sported a sink, commode, and shower/bath. The bedroom was pretty standard, with queen sized bed adorned with some pretty standard sheets and comforter. But he wasn't complaining, because it was either this, or getting erased.
He flipped on the TV, to the news, and began to eat his cereal. He checked the time—5:30, plenty of time. So far nothing had happened in the world. A new restaurant was opening, someone got shot, and Queen Sally was vetoing a bill that forced Mobians to wear clothes. Same ol', same ol'. He ate the last of the solid food and drank the rest of the milk from the bowl. The time was now 5:45—just enough time to fly to the palace, where his new life awaited him, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, Nicole. The fellow AI had caught his eye as soon as he had arrived in this town. She was everything he wanted in a woman—smart, witty, and sexy as hell. Not to mention, he thought with a little smirk, the accent was kind of alluring. He stepped out of the door to meet the crisp, cool city air. All around the city was waking up along with him. Cars drove past, shops opened, planes flew over- head.
'I'd like to process HER data.' He thought cheesily to himself, but he immediately stopped himself. She said that he was under constant surveillance, right? They could be monitoring his thought processors right now!
"Maybe if you do your job well, and ask really, really nicely." Nicole's voice rang out from behind.
'MOTHER FUCKER!' he nervously turned around and met the lynx's disapproving gaze. She had her arms crossed.
"I don't appreciate your thoughts about me. I came to tell you that you only have fifteen minutes until you're required to appear at the palace." She said icily to him, her glare never ceasing. She then disappeared in a flash, leaving him alone on the street.
'Nice move, dumbass. In just five simple days you've: got caught for robbery, got turned into the world's sexiest AI's slave, and fucked up your chances with her. What else can you do wrong, I wonder?'
"Well, you COULD be late for the job that decides whether or not you live or not, get beaten to a pulp for thinking such nasty thoughts about the 'World's Sexiest AI', or both." Nicole's voice sounded again. Anti- Wyatt hurriedly mounted his board and took off, full after burn, for the palace. He arrived with only seconds to spare, zooming through the front doors and tumbling off his board. He bounced across the carpet before finally skidding to a stop at the feet of both Sally and Nicole. He lay flat on his face and raised a finger.
"Did I make it?" he asked into the carpet, slightly muffling his speech.
"Yes, you did. Now it's time to get to work." Sally said to him. She turned to the lynx. "Nicole, he's all yours." She said before walking away.
"Get up." She ordered the cyan cat on the floor. In an instant he was up and giving her an over- zealous salute. "Knock that off." She snapped.
"Sorry."
"Now, since it's your first day, I think I'll cut some slack and give you an easy job." She said.
"What did you have in mind?"
(Six hours later)
"Well this sucks." Anti- Wyatt grumbled to himself. He was standing alone in cyber space, watching over a large map of the city streets. His job: regulate the stop lights. So far it had been an uneventful day. There was one case where some old grandma decided that red meant go and went right on through a stoplight, causing a four car pileup, but nothing else.
"So how have we been doing so far?" Nicole asked, walking up from behind.
"Pretty good so far." Anti-Wyatt grumbled.
"Listen, I need your help." Nicole sighed. Wyatt was shocked, to say the least.
"What's this? The all- powerful Nicole needs MY help?" he asked, putting a hand over his heart. She growled.
"Yes, a data ping that's moving too fast to read entered the system, and you're able to run fast. I want you to catch up to it and check its contents." She said, but no response came. Anti-Wyatt stood with a horror stricken expression.
"He went through with it." He muttered quietly. "The fat bastard actually went through with it."
"Went through with what?" Nicole asked, but Anti- Wyatt was already miles down the information highway.
"WE HAVE TO FIND IT!" he shouted back desperately. Nicole sighed and teleported after him.
'Where is it God damn it?' Anti-Wyatt mentally asked himself. If that data ping reached the main power grid, he could kiss his, and Nicole's, ass goodbye. Up ahead he saw something long and thin that glowed gold. Judging by the fact that he wasn't instantly catching up to it meant that it was the data ping. He pushed himself as fast as he could go until he was side by side with the thing. While running he entered the ping using his identical code arrangement. He knew what to do and where to go as soon as he got in. All it took was some tampering with the settings and polarity, and presto, he came upon the controls.
"Return to sender!" he commanded the ping. It immediately changed direction and began to zoom back in the direction it came. It traveled for a bit before entering a wormhole into the inter-dimensional highway. "Suck on that, bitch!" he called after it as the portal resealed. All that running had taken a lot of energy out of him, and he fell back on his back, laughing. Nicole appeared in a flash of light next to him.
"What did you do? Where's the data ping?" She asked.
"Long gone down the Inter-Dimensional highway baby! As for what I did, I just saved our, AND all of the city's asses. If that thing would've reached the main power servers, we'd be dead meat!" he replied with joy. Nicole smiled and crossed her arms.
"Not bad, you did your job well."
"Does that mean?"
"No, I won't go out with you. Not yet at least, you've still got a lot of ass kissing to do before I even consider it."
"Challenge accepted."
(Blaze's dimension, WPOV)
I do too I say solemnly to Blaze. Just then the energy shield drops, and we feel the effect of the gas kicking in and we're instantly docile. I look up and see a most horrific sight: Silver, with a gun in his hand, followed by five robots.
"Now, time to end this." He cackled evilly with a smirk.
(TPOV)
"Tails, there's too many of them! Get Marine and haul ass back to the Sol kingdom and get reinforcements!" Sonic yells to me over the sound of battle. So far we've suffered 300 casualties. But the number is still rising, and if we don't get reinforcements, our small little army of 1700 will be obliterated. As fast as I can, I scoop up Marine in my arms and fly as fast as my tails will carry me the way we came.
(WPOV)
"So that's how it's going to be huh? You're just going to slaughter us like pigs?" I ask while on my knees. I would do something, but I'm too weak.
"Pretty much, yeah." Silver says nonchalantly, as if he was discussing the weather. Bastard. I don't know if this makes me messed up or anything, but for some reason I'm perfectly calm. Shouldn't I be freaking out with the knowledge that these are my last minutes on earth? I hear a clicking sound…
… Silver released the safety.
I guess this is the end Blaze.
No, don't say that!
Well, it is, we might as well accept that. I really wish we could've met under different circumstances. Maybe You and I could've gone out for a night of fine dining or something like that and not been fighting for our lives. But, I guess the good lord has his plan for everybody. I say. I feel my eyes watering up.
Then can I just have one last kiss if this is really the end?
You know I couldn't say no. I reply and turn my head to kiss Blaze. Our lips were only inches apart when I'm struck on the head with the butt of the gun.
"Aw, isn't that just cute? Too bad we don't have time for emotional goodbye in our busy schedule." Silver sneers. "You first, cat." He says to me and I feel the cold barrel of the gun on the back of my head. To make matters worse, I now have a splitting headache from when he hit me. I hear the hammer pull back and I close my eyes. Well, here goes…
"NO, SILVER PLEASE!" Blaze pleads. Everyone's heads turn to the feline, who's crying her eyes out. "You win, okay? I'll be yours, just don't kill them!" she cries. An evil smirk shows up on Silver's face.
"What? Blaze, no!" I shout, resulting in another blow to the head. I'm forced to curl up on the ground and cradle my head. I can see Blaze's teeth clench from the bond.
No, I just can't see you or Soriah killed! She says. "Please, Silver! I'll even give the royal pledge!" That's when Silver's face lights up. What's the royal pledge?
"Then go ahead, say it." He urges. Blaze takes a deep breath and recites a sentence that makes me want to take the gun and finish the job myself:
"I, Blaze the Cat, princess of the Sol Kingdom and Guardian of the Sol emeralds, give the royal pledge to become Silver's property in any way he sees fit. On the one condition that he not kill Wyatt Evans or Princess Soriah." She says before exhaling shakily.
"B-Blaze, what the hell did you just do?" Soriah asks. Silver chuckles before locking blaze up with his telepathy and moving her out of the cell. Before leaving, he turns back to the five robots in the room.
"You guys, go ahead and clean up in here." He laughs evilly.
"W-what? YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T KILL THEM!" Blaze shouts from her floating prison. Silver glares at her.
"Yes, I said that I wouldn't kill them, but THEY never did. Sorry darling, but you lost." He says with another evil laugh before walking out of the dungeons. I'm to horror struck to do anything. So is Soriah. All we can do is watch as the robots produce guns of their own and take aim like a firing squad. I squeeze my eyes shut for the second time today, but something least expected happens.
The ground begins to rumble, and a few seconds later a powerful blast shakes the earth, blowing everything for two miles to hell. The blast incinerates the robots, but for some reason leaves me and Soriah unharmed. When I pick myself up, I find myself in a barren wasteland with scattered debris laying all around. I take a look in all directions and see the gun still standing, with all seven Sol emeralds sitting in their sockets. I see a portal patching itself back up. Somehow, the energy blast that was meant to destroy the New Mobotropilis power grid was reflected! HOLY SHIT! WE DID IT!
"Soriah, come on, we have to get out of here!" I cry to the fox next to me. She's laying on the ground, so I pick her up in my arms. Oh, shit. In all of this excitement, I never thought about Blaze!
Blaze, are you there any- where? I call.
Wyatt, I'm fine, but Silver still has me. We're in the city about five miles from the castle. I need you to go find our forces and bring them here! She says before disconnection the link. Before I go, time to finally get those emeralds. I carry Soriah to where the dining room used to be. I set her down and spot a small little bag on the ground. I pick it up and proceed to pull every emerald out of the socket and place it in the bag. When that's done, I pick Soriah back up and begin to scout for the way back to our army. But where?
"Head southeast." Soriah mumbles. I don't hesitate. After finding the correct direction, I run as fast as I can go, never stopping or looking back. I don't know where you are Blaze, but if I find you with just one hair out of place, I'm going to floss my teeth with that rat bastard's spine…
AN: There are two chapters left after this, stay tuned!